Cadence in the Sea of Silence
by Kayges
Summary: Cadence is the only daughter of the esteemed Trevelyan house, known for it's devotion to the Chantry and the Templar Order. Just as she is beginning to discover what she truly wants in life, to be a humble and respectable knight of the Chantry, catastrophe shakes the very heavens themselves. Cadence is beckoned to a higher calling than she could even dream of fulfilling.


"No." Cadence wanted to laugh to the high heavens. How great it would be to let out a great cackle in the midst of '_company of high standing,'_ but she had to control herself at least a little. For her father's sake. Still, if she had to hear one more lecture about how ladies of the house were meant to entertain the conversations of those above her station, especially when her very own marriage may be on the line! _Oh no, not my marriage! What ever will I do without a belly full of babies and a man to fight gallantly in my name?_

This time she did cackle. Just a little, but enough to cause some undue attention. She looked around a little and smiled graciously at the onlookers. "_There's young Cadence again_," they would say, "_messy blonde hair and the manners of a wild mabari hound._" Then they would laugh at how impossibly witty they were and sip at their fancy drinks and pat their lips with silken cloth. How _royal._

"Are you even listening to me, girl? You have a responsibility as a member of this house! You are our only child, Maker help us!" Her mother was really laying the exasperation on her today. Cadence couldn't help but feel like maybe something important was going on.

"Oh, right," Cadence looked back to her mother with her deceivingly innocent gray-blue eyes. Stonewashed, they called it. The eyes of a castle defender, to her mother's dismay. Just like her father. "Marriage, or something? Who's the lucky lad?" Cadence knew she was dancing ungracefully on thin ice with her mother.

"Or _something?"_ Her mother's hands flew into the air with all the grandeur of Queen Celene herself addressing the masses. Though her family were all of some prestigious descent, nobody's blood ran quite as blue as Lady Rousalier Tevelyan. "Cadence, please take this seriously. For once in your life just take something seriously!" Lady Trevelyan was on the verge of tears. Not like the usual ones, the fake ones, but this time they seemed at least a little genuine. Still, the words cut.

Cadence flared at that. "I take plenty seriously, mother! You just have no eyes to see. You never see me, just some stupid mirage of what you wanted me to be." She was upset, but it was best not to push her mother too far. Lady Tevelyan was prone to bouts of depression when things fell out of her careful control.

"Tell me one thing you've taken seriously in your entire life then, Cadence!" Her mother sobbed pitifully. Cadence may have pitied her in that moment, but the truth was that her carefree disposition was only a way to not think about how oppressed she felt every day. She might have noticed her mother's grandiose façade was used in the same manner, but she was angry. They were both angry, but Cadence knew one thing they would both fail to dispute.

"The Maker, mother," Cadence said firmly, brows furrowed in agitation. Lady Trevelyan was quick to stifle the sobbing and wipe away the tears. She knew how important faith was to their family name. The Trevelyan family was actually well known for their devout ways and charitable habits in the name of Andraste and the Maker. They were well respected for it as well, even recognized by Divine Justinia as a house that others should strive to mold themselves by.

Every house had their falling outs, however, and this falling out was one derived from ignorance on both parts. Lady Trevelyan bowed her head slightly, in apology perhaps, and allowed Cadence to continue.

Calmly now, Cadence sighed, "I know what I was meant to be, Mother. I am not going to be as important to this house as you want me to be, but my faith really does guide me. It's a light I can't just ignore." She sighed again, shaking her head at how serious this conversation turned out to be. Life was too limited, too unpredictably short, especially for the path she had chosen. She wanted to spend her life enjoying the thrill of battle in the name of someone, something larger than life itself. She wanted to spend the meantime standing as a wall for those who could not afford to live behind one.

She had to stop herself for a moment. All of those visits to the Chantry were making her a bit too overzealous. She shook her head again and looked into her mother's watery green eyes. "Look, father's right. I'm too stubborn, too hardheaded, too much like him I guess. " She let out a halfhearted laugh. It sounded more like a sigh. "I'm tough, Mother. You know that."

Lady Rousalier gave her a look that said her daughter's head was full of dreams.

Cadence clicked her tongue, "Maker's breath, Mother, I'm not out to be the next Hero of Ferelden or, or Champion of Kirkwall. Please." She waved her hand in the air and then retracted it quickly. _Ah sod it, Mother. Now I'm doing it. _

She cleared her throat. "I just want to fight for what's right. To protect them." She looked down for a moment and then back up. She didn't like appearing weak, but she was very tired all of a sudden.

After a long, unbearable silence, Lady Trevelyan sighed herself. "I love you, my daughter. I've only ever wanted what I thought was best for you." She stepped forward, perhaps to embrace her daughter, but they hadn't shown such affection in many years. The Lady let her arms fall to either side. "I suppose it is any true parent's hope that their child find the happiness they're looking for."

Cadence let out another gasp of a laugh, "Don't worry, Mother. I'll garner respect for our family in my own way." She turned on the leathery boot of her heel and began her way to anywhere else. When the tears began stinging her eyes she knew it was time to find somewhere else to be, for her own sake.

Lady Rousalier Trevelyan looked on to her daughter. She could not help but feel a deep sense of desperate hope and resigned worry in equal measure. It was as if the rolling tides of fate had been pulling her Cadence ever further away with each wave. This receding tide truly felt like the last before a storm. "Be safe, my love."

Cadence would deny it for a while yet, but she heard.


End file.
